Wendy Hocker: (1988-92): 'An incredibly hard worker' (Bud Taylor)

Posted: Tuesday, Apr 23rd, 2013

Hocker is the fastest swim sprinter ever at CGHS.
No CGHS girl has swum the 100 butterfly faster than Hocker.

Of all the many outstanding boy and girl swimmers that have gone through the Cottage Grove High School program in the last 50 years, none has their name on more records than Wendy Hocker. Hocker graduated from CGHS in 1992, and four of her individual records have not been broken as well as five all-time relay bests.

Hocker’s times of 24.7 in the 50 freestyle, 36.16 in the 66 freestyle, 53.84 in the 100 freestyle and 1:00.68 in the 100 butterfly have stood for over 21 years.

For a little perspective, in the 4A meet this year, Hocker’s 50 free time would have beaten all other swimmers, while her 100 free and 100 butterfly would have put her in second place.

The five relay team records have one thing in common: Hocker was the only Lion girl on every one of them. In the 200 medley relay it was Hocker, Jill Hensley, Shelly Cooper and Jaynie Seablom. In the 400 medley relay it was Heather Cunningham who took Shelly Cooper’s place. In the 200 freestyle relay it was Hocker, her sister Becky, Stacia Binder and Hensley. In both the 400 and 800 free relays the team was Hocker, Seablom, Cunningham and Cooper.

Having swum together for many years the latter four became known as “The Fearsome Foursome.”

“The four of us palled around together,” Cunningham said. “Wendy was kind, and we were good friends all the way through school.”

For her coach and teammates there was no secret to Hocker’s success. Independent of one another, teammate Heather (Cunningham) Bridgens and coach Bud Taylor used the same phrase to describe Hocker: “she was an incredibly hard worker.”

Cunningham said Hocker attended every practice, which included all morning, Saturday and weight training workouts.

“She was pretty quick, she had some speed,” Taylor said.

“What made the difference for her was she just had great pride. She would go all the way to the limit. She worked as hard as she could possibly work. She would ask what she could do to get better, and unlike many other people in the world, she would do it. She would really work.